A detailed report of this trip would be pages and pages long, and filled with cycling minutiae. So, I will attempt a high-level summary:

The Cent Cols Challenge is the brainchild of Phil Deeker, and is run not like a vacation cycling tour, but as a challenge where there is hardly time outside of riding to eat, sleep and complete basic bike maintenance and laundry.

You ride a total of ten days. Five days on either side of a rest day. The route, in this case in the Pyrenees (mostly in France with a few incursions into Spain) crosses no major towns, and encompasses both the famous climbs of the Tour de France and some little-known roads that are steeper, narrower and less-well maintained so that the Tour de France could not really use them. Phil loves these roads, even when cycling down them jars your bones and puts life and equipment at undue risk.

The distances and elevation profiles are daunting: On average, you ride 110-120 miles a day with 15,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. As the days go on, it generally gets tougher to get up and ride as the days wear on your body and mind. At the same time, you adapt to the ritual, are constantly amazed and refreshed by the scenery, the challenge and the camaraderie.

Highlights for me were the classic tour climbs such as the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Hautacam, Port de Bales, Pla d'Adet, etc. and some of the lesser known Basque climbs such as the Col de Baragui with its crazy gradients. I remember huddling in a stone hut above the Col de Port for warmth from the rain, anxious for the steep climb to come to bring feeling back into the fingers and toes. Even forgetting my rain jacket at a rest stop and descending in a light vest and arm warmers in almost zero visibility off the Port de Larrau had its charm and challenge.

In terms of the challenge, I suffered but was proud to be among the 6 of 34 riders that made every climb and kilometer. I also met some great folks, including a couple who have multiple UTMB finishes to their credit, Tor des Geants, etc. They were relatively new to cycling but did admirably.

I am linking some photos from my trip, and the website describing the trip:

http://s1320.photobucket.com/user/watoni1/slideshow/CCC%20Pyreness%202013

http://centcolschallenge.com/routes/pyrenees

Congrats on being 1 of the 6!  This Phil deeker fellow seems like a bit of a sadist.  Sounds like an amazing journey...I can't even imagine what 10 days of climbing on a bike would be like.  It must make riding around the states seem pretty mundane.

Thanks, for sharing, and congratulations on finishing all the distance.   Were the riders who failed to finish mostly injured or unprepared?

It was a mix. Some were injured (knees were a big issue), some were unprepared, mentally I think as much as anything. It is often a glorious suffering, but suffering nonetheless. Also, some riders needed to or felt it was prudent to opt-out of a climb at the end of the day when we had already reached the destination town and the final "optional" climb was up to the summit of a ski station and back down (famous Tour de France climbs such as Hautacam/Tramassel and Pla d'Adet, for example). Going too deep one day when you are on the edge fatigue-wise or injury-wise risks a full meltdown in the future. Riders who were faster than I sometimes had a bad day where they could just not turn the pedals, but were back the day after strong as ever. Finally, some riders crashed or had an equipment failure that nixed a few climbs for them.

In short, you need to ride smart and be lucky to make it through 100% of a ten-day tour like this ... I have been very lucky twice

Looks like a really great time.  Congrats on doing all the miles.

Did you stay in hotels each night?  How was the food?